Preparation and photocatalytic performance of
porous ZnO microrods loaded with Ag
porous ZnO microrods loaded with Ag
(School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Maanshan 243002, China)
Abstract: Porous silver-modified ZnO microrods photocatalysts were synthesized through direct thermal decomposition of the Ag-doped zinctartrate precursor, which was prepared by homogeneous precipitation method at 80 °C for 2 h. The obtained samples were characterized by XRD, FTIR, TG−DTA and UV-VIS absorption spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared porous Ag/ZnO microrods was tested with the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange. The results indicate that doping Ag greatly improves the photocatalytic efficiency of ZnO and 3% Ag-doped (mole fraction) ZnO porous microrod photocatalyst exhibits the highest photocatalytic decolorization efficiency, leading to as much as 80% reduction of MO concentration in 120 min. Moreover, the 3% Ag-doped porous microrods also possess higher photocatalytic activity under the real sunlight irradiation.
Key words: Ag/ZnO; porous material; photocatalytic performance; decoloration